Crescent Cranberry Brie Bites

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!

I shared this recipe in my group a month or so back and thought it would fit perfectly to share here too!! This may be more of a holiday app but really, I would be happy to eat these any time of the year!

Crescent Cranberry & Brie Bites
(makes 24)

You’ll need:
❄️ I package of crescents
❄️ a jar of cranberry sauce
❄️ a wheel of Brie (I used about half)
❄️ optional: walnuts or pecans for the topping

Roll out the crescents and push together the seams to connect - cut 24 squares (about 1” or so) put the square crescents in a mini muffin tin (I LOVE my silicone ones —> https://amzn.to/38H89Ca (ad) )

Cut the Brie into 24 little pieces, place on top of crescents, add a little bit of cranberry sauce and top with nuts if desired.

Bake at 350 for 15 min and that’s it!!! Sooo yummy! 😋😋😋

XO,

Lizzie 

Easy Crowd Pleaser Taco Dip

I've been making this taco dip for years - it's the one thing that many people request I make when coming to their house for a gathering. The last couple of years I have switched it up and started using greek yogurt in place of the sour cream, and guess what? NO ONE noticed 😉


This taco dip will take you all of 5 minutes to put together - grab a bag of your favorite tortilla chips and you're good to go!


Ingredients:

1 can of refried beans (I use the orignal)
2 tablespoons of taco seasoning mix
plain greek yogurt (or sour cream if you'd like)
salsa
lettuce
shredded cheese of your choice
green onions
black olives (optional - I use them if I have but if I don't, it's no biggie)

Make it:

First, mix your can of refried beans with the taco seasoning. Once it's all mixed together really good,  you are going layer each ingredient starting with that. So you'll go refried beans, greek yogurt, salsa, lettuce, shredded cheese then green onions.

and enjoy!!

*linking up with Jessi's Design & Lindsays Sweet World & Mix & Match Mama

Spinach, Feta & Sausage Crustless Quiche

I love a good quiche, especially ones with that delicious buttery/flaky crust. Buuuut, since I'm on the eating healthy train, I decided to throw together some ingredients I had on hand to create my own yummy crustless quiche.  Of course this would taste better with crust, but really, it's delicious and I *almost* don't even miss the crust.


Here's what you need to make this:

6 eggs
1/2 cup of milk
1 tblsp of Parmesan cheese
salt + pepper
3-4 breakfast sausage links
Handful of spinach
1/2 cup of crumbled feta cheese


What to do:

Preheat your oven to 350. Cook your breakfast sausage - I like to use the pre-cooked breakfast sausage from Costco so this only takes me a minute in the microwave. Once done, cut up into small pieces. Whisk eggs, milk, parmesan cheese + spices together in a bowl. Add in your sausage.

In a greased pie dish (I use non stick spray), lay your spinach down first, then add the crumbled feta cheese. Then pour your egg mixture over the top.

Bake for 44-55 minutes - I like to then broil it at the end for a few minutes to get that nice crisp top. I cut this into 4 pieces and each one serves as my breakfast (or lunch) - It's delicious!!

So, are you a quiche person or no?




*linking up with Jessi's Design & Lindsays Sweet World

What's for Dinner?

Morning friends! Yesterday I got a call from the school nurse that Brayden wasn't feeling well and since he has never gone to the nurse before, I knew it was for real. We headed to pick him up and as soon as I saw him I could tell he was miserable! The rest of the night consisted of him laying in our bed, drinking fluids and battling a fever. We have a dr. appt today and I'm really hoping he doesn't test positive for the flu!

In the meantime, I wanted to share some yummy tried and true recipes we've been eating for dinner.  I always appreciate when people not only share delicious meals, but have actually eaten them too

Sheet Pan Chicken + Green Beans 

This is a quick and easy recipe that even the kids loved, well minus the green beans, they just won't do green beans




Beef Casserole

How can you go wrong with beef and noodles?!





Spinach Lasagna Roll Ups

My kids actually ate these and enjoyed it!! Well except Avery, she has a thing about anything pasta-like, she just flat out won't eat it. But the rest of us, loved this!




4 Ingredient Beef Enchiladas

I could eat these every week and I think the kids could too. They are soooo easy and soooo good!!





And that's some of what has been on rotation lately in our household! What are some of your go-to dinners?


*linking up with Jessi's Design & Lindsays Sweet World

The Best Cauliflower Soup You'll Ever Have

How's that for a title?

But seriously, you guys, I have perfected the best cauliflower soup that I probably will NEVER go back to baked potato soup!! *gasp* And if you know me, you know how much I LOOOOOVE baked potato soup, so this is saying alot!

I swear, this soup tastes almost identical so I might as well keep it healthier and stick with this from now on

I adapted my own recipe from this recipe (if you ask me, that recipe has quite a few too many steps for my liking)

Stovetop Cauliflower Soup
*makes about 4 servings

Here's what you will need:

4 Tbsp butter
1/2 large onion cut up into small pieces
4 cloves of garlic
1/2 cup of flour (you'll use 1/4 cup at a time)
1 14.5oz can of chicken broth
1/2 cup of water
1 head of cauliflower (chopped up into pieces)
Salt & Pepper to taste
Oregeno & Basil to taste
1/2 cup shredded cheddar cheese
1/2 cup milk

*optional toppings: green onions, bacon (I totally cheated and used bacon bits) and more cheese!


What to do:

In a skillet, melt the butter then add the onions for a few minutes until they are sauteed brown. Add the garlic in for about a minute then add 1/4 of the flour and stir around to coat the onion mixture.

Add the onion mixture into the bottom of a saucepan. Then add the chicken broth and water.  Add in your cauliflower and spices and turn to med/low heat, cover and let simmer for about 30 minutes.

After 30 minutes, I used a potato masher to mash up the cauliflower right in the saucepan. Then add your milk and whisk in the other 1/4 cup of flour. Stir in the shredded cheese and bam, you're done!! Top with your favorite toppings and enjoy!!

*linking up with Jessi's Design

What's for Dinner?

Happy Wednesday!! Today I'm sharing some more tried and true dinner recipes we've been eating around here. I love finding new, yummy recipes - I hope you find something to try!


Bell Pepper Tacos

I don't follow this recipe exactly, I really just cook taco meat and add it into the peppers and bake with cheese then add my toppings when it's done. This is healthier alternative to regular tacos and since I'm always looking for ways to be healthier, this is a great option!

Veggie Loaded Rotisserie Chicken Casserole 

I love easy recipes and this doubles as super healthy! 

Croc Pot Lasagna

Here's another awesome, easy and healthier meal! You substitute out ricotta cheese for cottage cheese and you can't even tell!

Garlic Parmesan Spaghetti Squash

I try and eat spaghetti squash once a week when the others are having pasta - I have really learned to love it!! Sometimes I eat it plain with a little butter and parmesan cheese and other times I have sauce.

Have you been eating something new?



*linking up with Jessi's Design

Girl Chat ~ Favorite Fall Recipes

Happy Thursday!! Today is our monthly installment of Girl Chat - we're talking all about favorite Fall recipes! We hope you link up!

Fall is definitely my favorite season (although Winter is close since it hosts Christmas) - I just love when the weather gets a little crisper and the leaves start to change, it puts me in a great mood! I also love football Sundays and it seems I do the most home-cooking around this time of year. Fall puts me in the mood to eat!!!

I have an entire Pinterest board dedicated to Fall - check it out here if you're interested :)


Here's a few of my favorites recipes!

A couple years back we made these super yummy & easy Halloween cookies  - They are a hit with the kids and we make them every year now




A total fall favorite would have to be Chili!! I love it, but my family isn't 100% on the same page

I love to cook it in the slow cooker - this is a good recipe!

We LOVE baking pumpkin chocolate chip muffins! The kids could eat the entire batch in one sitting! (well the bigs could, Avery can't be bothered with carbs LOL)

Every year we go apple picking and I always have high hopes to make a homemade apple pie but that has yet to happen (maybe this year??) but I have made apple crisp and that just screams Fall to me!

via

Fall weather puts me in the mood for homemade chicken pot pie for sure!! I have finally perfected my homemade recipe (which I've shared, you can find it here) - and it's sooooooo good!!

I love making soups in the Fall too - I have a board that I'm constantly adding favorites too (you can see it here)

I can't wait to read through everyone's favorites, hopefully I'll find something new to make!!

We hope you link up below!

And don’t forget to follow your hosts!

Danielle - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest

Emily - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest 

Lindsay - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter

Lizzie - Bloglovin / Facebook / Instagram / Pinterest

Sierra - Bloglovin / Instagram / Pinterest / Twitter / Facebook

Greek Yogurt Recipes

I mentioned before my love for Greek yogurt - it's become a new favorite ingredient of mine as well. I love being able to swap out mayo or sour cream and use Greek yogurt because 1. it's healthy! and 2. it's delicious!

Today I thought I would share some recipes I've been making on repeat using Greek yogurt

ONE - Deviled Eggs

Gone are the days where I make these with mayo! Now I whip these up using Greek yogurt instead and they are a healthy snack during the week

TWO - Mashed potatoes

By using Greek yogurt I can add some key nutrients and also not feel totally bad after eating them

THREE -  Taco Dip

You will not even notice the sour cream is missing - the Greek yogurt is even better in my opinion!

FOUR - Greek Yogurt Bars

These were made by yours truly and they are such an easy, yummy, healthy snack!!

FIVE - Banana Chocolate Chip Muffins

Another one by yours truly. We make these all the time! Substituting Greek yogurt makes these a tad healthier and they are just so good!!

Those are just some of the things we love to make with Greek yogurt. Like I mentioned before, pretty much any time a recipe calls for sour cream or mayo, I just swap it for Greek yogurt. When we eat enchilada's for dinner, I dip them in Greek yogurt instead of sour cream. If we're having baked potatoes, I do the same. These are small changes that can really help you get more nutrients into your diet, and who doesn't want that!

What do you make that uses Greek yogurt? I'm always looking for new ways to use it!


*linking up with Jessi's Deisgn

Zoodle Recipes

In my quest to being healthier and lose weight, I'm finally jumping on the zoodle trend! I really need to try and loose the 5lbs I gained back after my surgery and I'm hoping some of these recipes can help!

Tell me, are you a zoodle lover?? I love veggies and all but I love carbs even more, but I figured if I can eat and actually enjoy spaghetti squash then these should be yummy too!

via

via

via

via

Tell me, do you have a favorite zoodle recipe???

xo,
Lizzie

**Join my new Facebook group We Heart Deals here!!**


*linking up with Jessi's Design

What's For Dinner

Happy Wednesday ladies! They say we are suppose to actually see the sun today and I really hope they are right. It's been so gloomy here that Ella asks if it's nighttime everyday at noon :)

I'm back today with another installment of What's for Dinner?  I love when I find something that is pretty easy, very tasty, and bonus points if it's a hit with the kids.

Penne Sausage Alfredo

Oh my word is this good! I know it's not the healthiest since it uses jarred alfredo sauce but it's just so good. This dinner is a hit with everyone in the house, well except Avery, that girl eats nothing I make for dinner unless it's chicken nuggets. Needless to say she goes to bed hungry many nights.

One Pot Ground Beef Stroganoff

Another recipe that was a hit and super easy to make - I love when you only use one pot; it makes clean up a cinch.

One Pan Sausage & Veggies

This dinner has become part of our weekly rotation we love it so much. The kids aren't use to eating their veggies cooked, they have always loved them raw but they are slowly coming around when I make this. 

Copycat Panera broccoli & cheese soup

All I can say to this one is YUM! I made it earlier this week for the first time and used regular milk instead of half of half because that's what I had and wow was it good! We paired it with plain toasted bagels and I was left wanting more and more. 

There you go - 4 recipes that I've personally tried and can tell you they are so so good! I hope you give one of them a try!

I'll see you back Friday for my favorites of the week :)

*linking up with Jess's Design

Christmas Yummies

Happy Tuesday Friends! I'm so happy to that our weather will reach the 20's today, it was bitter cold here yesterday and we need a break from that!

With Christmas right around the corner, today I'm sharing some yummy looking Christmas desserts. Maybe you'll find something to bring to a holiday party :)

I have a ton of fun recipes on my Pinterest board that you can find here, but below I'll just highlight some of my faves.  Basically most of these are desserts that I swoon over and pin with hopes that I'll make, when really, I just re-pin the following year and the cycle continues.  You know you do the same :)

Melting Snowman Oreo Balls

These are so so cute but look like they take a lot of time.  If I ever get some of that, these are on my list!

Santa Hat Cupcakes

How cute!? And these look relatively easy!

Christmas Light Cupcakes

One of my favorite sites for recipes has these adorable cupcakes - they also look pretty do-able!

Wreaths

I have been making these since I was a little girl with my Mom. We actually just made them last weekend at our family cookie day and they always bring me back to childhood!

Easy Christmas Tree Brownies

With the word easy in the title, these can easily be added to your holiday!

*linking up with Momfessionals

Spinach, Mushroom & Feta Quiche Cups

Happy Thursday, friends! I'm happy to report I *think* my cold is finally on the mend. Just in time for the weekend :)

Today I'm sharing a super easy & yummy recipe. I am a huge quiche lover but have never attempted to make it at home - until now.

This recipe is originally adapted from here but I changed a few things around.

*This recipe makes 6 quiche cups - just double it to make a full cupcake tray of 12

Ingredients:

2 pieces of bread of your choice (I used wheat)
2 eggs
1/2 cup milk
4 oz mushrooms chopped up
1 glove of garlic minced
handful of fresh spinach
2 oz crumbled feta cheese
2 tblsp fresh grated parmesan cheese
pepper to taste


Directions:

Preheat oven to 400

Spray a 6 cupcake holder tin with cooking spray. Take your bread and rip apart pieces to fit in each cup opening.

Take a little spinach and place on top of the bread (I used a few pieces in each)

In a skillet over medium-low heat, saute the mushrooms and garlic in 1 tblsp of olive oil. Once the mushrooms turn brown, spoon some of the mixture over the spinach.  Add some feta on top of that.

In a small bowl, whisk together the eggs, milk, parmesan cheese and pepper.  Pour over each cup (I filled up to the top)

Bake at 400 for 25 minutes and enjoy!!

I kept these in an airtight container in my fridge for only a couple of days because they were too good to not eat.  (I swear I could have eaten all 6 in one sitting) I'm sure they would stay for at least a few days.



*linking up with Annie

What's for Dinner?

I'm back today with another installment of What's For Dinner - I've done this a couple of other times and I think these are good posts, what do you guys think? I know I love when I hear tried and true good recipes!

Here's what I've rounded up for today's post:



First up is from what my favorite bloggers - it's a jalapeno popper burger and it's so so good!

The next recipe is from yours truly - it's shrimp and asparagus over quinoa and not only is it healthy, it's super yummy!

These beef enchiladas make their way to our kitchen table once a week, they are that good (and so easy!)

I know it's summer and HOT but who doesn't love a good homemade mac n' cheese dish?? This one (again by me) is soooooo good!!

There you have it, some new dinner ideas (if you haven't already seen them) I hope you try some out!


Linking up with Jessi for What's Hap-pinning Wednesday

Shrimp & Asparagus over Quinoa

Happy Hump Day!!

So I've been jumping on the eat better train and while searching Pinterest for recipes, I came across several variations of shrimp & asparagus - 2 things I love. However, those 2 things alone will not fill me up, so I married in one of my other favorites - quinoa.

This dish turned out so yummy and is great for a summer night dinner.

Ingredients:

• Asparagus (as much to your liking) chopped in half after cutting the ends off
• 1 cup Quinoa 
• 1 tblsp olive oil
• 15-20 large cooked shrimp
• 1 cup chicken broth
• 1 lemon, squeezed
• slat + pepper for seasoning

Directions:

In one pot, cook your quinoa according to the directions (usually it's 1 cup quinoa + 2 cups water, bring to a boil, reduce heat, cover and simmer for about 10-12 minutes)


Meanwhile, in a large pan (I like to use my deep wok) heat your olive oil for a few minutes. Toss the shrimp in and season with salt and pepper.  Cook for about 5 minutes.

Remove the shrimp and set aside, add in the asparagus, chicken broth and lemon juice, simmer for about 6-8 minutes.

Once the quinoa is cooked, place in a bowl(s)

Add the shrimp back into your pan and heat through another 5 minutes.  Remove and add desired amount to your quinoa.

Enjoy!

Zucchini & Carrot Muffins

Happy Wednesday! I just noticed I said Happy Wednesday, correction, it is Thursday, LOL

I'm here today to share a super yummy, kind of healthy, recipe for zucchini & carrot muffins.  My kiddos helped make these and while they were a little disgusted by the zucchini at first, once they were done, they inhaled them!

I originally found the recipe here but tweaked it to fit what I had and to also lessen the sugar.



Here's how to make these delicious muffins:

Ingredients:

• 1/2 cup rolled oats
• 2 1/2 cup all purpose flour
• 1/2 cup sugar + extra for sprinking on the top
• 3/4 cup of pure maple syrup
• 1 tablespoon baking powder
• 1 1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 4 eggs
• 3/4 cup coconut oil
• 1 cup grated zucchini
• 1 cup grated carrot
• 1/2 chocolate chips

Instructions:

**I'm going to start by saying most baking recipes always call to mix dry ingredients separate from wet, but I don't do that.  You can if that's what you prefer, I just don't feel the need to dirty another bowl when in my opinion, the outcome is the same :)

First, grab yourself a couple of cute helpers :) Not necessary but will make it more fun (or not, depending on how it goes)

Preheat oven to 350.

Mix all of the above ingredients into 1 large mixing bowl.  Line your muffin tins with liners and spray with Pam. 

Fill each muffin tin about 3/4 full.  I had enough mix to make 18 muffins. Sprinkle a little sugar over each.

Bake for 25-30 minutes.  You will know they are ready when you put a fork in and it comes out clean. 

Seriously, these are so so good and an easy way to sneak some veggies into your kids, even if there's chocolate chips involved :)

Enjoy!